Wine Words & Video Tape

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Posts Tagged ‘bdx15’

I tasted a good range of Côtes de Bordeaux at the annual Grand Cercle tastings during primeurs, held at Château Montlabert in St Emilion. First impressions of Bordeaux 2016 on the right bank was of a vintage defined by impressive texture and freshness with slightly more modest alcohols than usual. It is an interesting companion piece to the beautiful 2015 vintage. Excellent flowering conditions [in an otherwise damp start to the growing season] encouraged a good fruit set. The drought conditions which occurred in the high summer were relieved by period of brief but productive rain on 13 and 20 September. October was sunny and dry. Castillon stood out for me with very impressive efforts from Château Alcée, Château Cap de Faugères and Château d’Aiguilhe in particular, but there are some very good wines in all the Côtes de Bordeaux appellations. I was also struck by the quality of the wines in Francs from Nicolas Thienpont at Château La Prade and Château Puygueraud, as well as at Château de Franc. There a few wines that were characterised by comparatively high acidity and grip. I think these will settle nicely though and I’d be interested to see them further down the track.

It was in the Médoc that the vintage showers of September 2015 were heaviest. Their effect has led to a degree of heterogeneity in the wines. Tasting many Médocs at the Cru Bourgeois event held at Château d’Arsac back in April I was struck by the variability. The rain arrived on the eve of the Merlot harvest which was unfortunate, in what was otherwise an excellent growing season with regard to quality. The top properties [Potensac, Goulée, Les Grands Chênes, La Tour de By and Loudenne for example] have made impressive wines; others were easy going and soft; quite a few felt a little dilute. Unlike 2014, which was a pretty safe bet in my opinion up in the Médoc, 2015 seems a more uneven prospect. There are some good wines, but the picture is complex.

St Estèphe has made some very good wine in 2015 but the appellation has not done as well as in 2014 in my book. This is down to the heavy rain showers in mid September, the residual effect of ‘Storm Henry,’ that arrived on the eve of the Merlot harvest, a key varietal component to many of the wines in St Estèphe. While conditions improved from mid September until early October, how estates and different terroirs responded to these conditions determined the relative levels of success. There are some top wines in the appellation – Château Cos d’Estournel, Château Montrose, Château Calon-Ségur, Château Lafon-Rochet and Château Meyney spring to mind – but there is not the uniformity here for me of 2014, nor the exciting power in the wines. Whether 2015 will claw back some of that ground during elévage remains to be seen.

I think Château Cos d’Estournel just has it this year. It will be a close run thing I’m sure, but at this early stage it fractionally pips Château Montrose in producing the finest St Estèphe in 2015. Undoubtedly this is the best wine made here since Aymeric de Gironde took over the day-to-day running of this Michel Reybier owned estate in 2012. Last year the 2014 was impressive, but this year Cos 2015 has a plush voluptuousness that is irresistible. The purity is dazzling, the precision remarkable. This wine belies the patchy September weather here that literally rained on St Estèphe’s parade.

Château Montrose occupies a wonderful position in St Estèphe, a single continuous vineyard that slopes gently toward the Gironde estuary. Legend has it that the name ‘Mont Rose’ derives from the pink coloured heather that used to occupy the spot before it was turned over to vine. Montrose, along with Latour and Mouton Rothschild, produces some of the boldest, most age-worthy red wine on the planet. The 2015 here is impressive. It’s a whisker off the remarkable wine made at Montrose in 2014, though quite different in style.

Recent Comments

tkoby11

Jeremy I tasted these the week before last in the States and with 3 hours only got to about 60 wines total but was sure to hit all wines, sometime twice, that were of personal and purchase interest for me. We are fairly similar in our assessment with a few swaps between your level 1 and my level 2. Troplong Mondot, Pavie Macquin, and Canon Lagaffeliere were tops for me. Figeac was not showing well, I have loved this wine from literally every vintage I have ever had, its a no score for me to be tried again. Cab sauv in the C. Lagaf gave it a nice extra tannic beam of structure on all the lush fruit, Mondot and Macquin being neighbors and have lots of limestone soils are nice twins. I also think that Macquin 10 blows the doors off their 2009.